Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Spinal cord stimulation helps heart function and reduces arrhythmias
By Lopshire, John C et al.·Published in Circulation·2009·Krannert Institute of Cardiology, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Spinal cord stimulation improves ventricular function and reduces ventricular arrhythmias in a canine postinfarction heart failure model.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with heart failure caused by a heart attack underwent spinal cord stimulation (SCS) to see if it could help their heart function. The dogs receiving SCS showed a significant improvement in their heart's ability to pump blood compared to those who didn't receive any treatment. Additionally, the SCS group had fewer episodes of dangerous heart rhythms. After 10 weeks, the dogs treated with SCS had the best recovery in heart function, suggesting that this treatment could be beneficial for dogs with similar heart issues.
People also search for: dog heart failure treatment · spinal cord stimulation for dogs · improving dog heart function · ventricular arrhythmias in dogs
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) reduces the incidence of ventricular tachyarrhythmias in experimental models. This study investigated the effects of long-term SCS on ventricular function in a postinfarction canine heart failure model. METHODS AND RESULTS: In stage 1, dogs underwent implantable cardioverter-defibrillator implantation and embolization of the left anterior descending artery followed by right ventricular pacing (240 ppm) for 3 weeks to produce heart failure. In stage 2, 28 surviving animals were assigned to the SCS (delivered at the T4/T5 spinal region for 2 hours 3 times a day), medicine (MED; carvedilol therapy at 12.5 mg PO BID), or control (CTRL; no therapy) group for the initial phase 1 study. In a subsequent phase 2 study, 32 stage 1 survivors were equally randomized to the SCS, MEDS (carvedilol plus ramipril 2.5 mg PO QD), SCS plus MEDS (concurrent therapy), or CTRL group. Animals were monitored for 5 weeks (phase 1) or 10 weeks (phase 2). In stage 3, all phase 1 animals underwent circumflex artery balloon occlusion for 1 hour. In the SCS group, left ventricular ejection fraction was 65+/-5% at baseline, 17+/-3% at the end of stage 1, and 47+/-7% at the end of stage 2. In the MED group, left ventricular ejection fraction was 61+/-4% at baseline, 18+/-3% at the end of stage 1, and 34+/-4% at the end of stage 2. In the CTRL group, left ventricular ejection fraction was 64+/-5% at baseline, 19+/-5% at the end of stage 1, and 28+/-3% at the end of stage 2. Left ventricular ejection fraction was significantly improved in the SCS compared with the MED and CTRL groups (P<0.001 for both). The mean number of spontaneous nonsustained ventricular tachyarrhythmias during stage 2 and the occurrence of ischemic ventricular tachyarrhythmias during stage 3 also were significantly decreased in the SCS (27+/-17 and 27%, respectively; P<0.03) and MED (58+/-42 and 33%; P<0.05) versus CTRL (88+/-52 and 76%) group. After 10 weeks in the phase 2 studies, the greatest recovery in ejection fraction was noted in the SCS (52+/-5%) and SCS+MEDS (46+/-4%) groups compared with the MEDS (38+/-2%) and CTRL (31+/-4%) groups. CONCLUSIONS: SCS significantly improved cardiac contractile function and decreased ventricular arrhythmias in canine heart failure.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19597055/